Jump to content

Menu

1st grade spelling programs you love and hate?


cherylterese
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hello! I'm new here - this is my first post! Decided to homeschool my oldest for 1st grade next year. He's currently in a private Christian K. I'm trying to put together a classical curriculum for next year based on WTM but have read a lot of negatives (here and elsewhere) about Spelling Workout. I'm looking for some suggestions and would appreciate your input.

 

A little about us that might help - my son is doing the Orton Gillingham phonics program in school. He can sound out words pretty well and do about a 6 word dictation. He brings home a weekly spelling test and always does well on it, pretty much getting them all correct. There is no memorization for spelling lists. It is all based on sounds.

 

I have a Master's in Reading, but have never taught it. I did teach music for 10 years though!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've tried...

 

 

  • All About Spelling (easy to use, but expensive if you only have one dc and your moving overseas :))
  • Word Attack (really liked this, but sadly Hannah wasn't writing anymore levels)
  • Dictation Day by Day (free on Google books, loved this!!, but then ds came along and I didn't have the time to prep it the way it needed to be)
  • Spelling Workout (workbooky, very workbooky and dd didn't remember any of the words by the time the review lesson came around)
  • Writing Road to Reading (ahhh, finally found a match!!!, once I wrapped my head around the program it's not that hard to teach, similar approach as AAS, but much more affordable)

 

 

Hope all my craziness with spelling helps you a bit. Welcome to the wonderful world of homeschooling!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for all of the responses, and all of the welcome messages! I am very excited about our decision to begin homeschooling next year. I only wish I had gone with my gut and started this past fall for K. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed right now with all of the curriculum options out there, so I'm sure you'll see me posting quite a bit in the near future!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've tried...

 

 

  • All About Spelling (easy to use, but expensive if you only have one dc and your moving overseas :))

  • Word Attack (really liked this, but sadly Hannah wasn't writing anymore levels)

  • Dictation Day by Day (free on Google books, loved this!!, but then ds came along and I didn't have the time to prep it the way it needed to be)

  • Spelling Workout (workbooky, very workbooky and dd didn't remember any of the words by the time the review lesson came around)

  • Writing Road to Reading (ahhh, finally found a match!!!, once I wrapped my head around the program it's not that hard to teach, similar approach as AAS, but much more affordable)

 

Hope all my craziness with spelling helps you a bit. Welcome to the wonderful world of homeschooling!

 

Thanks! A homeschooling acquaintance uses Writing Road to Reading so I have that on my list to check out as well. She's doing it with 5 kids and likes it. All About Spelling did look a bit pricey, but I do have two more kiddos (ages 4 and 2) waiting in the wings!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We hated SWO. We are using Spell to Write and Read now and are much happier. It is based on the same philosophy as AAS. But it is cheaper and more flexible. However, more flexible also means less scripted and less hand-holding for mom. So it takes a while to learn how to do everything and figure out what works for you. But now that we are at that point, it feels so good, because we can customize it very easily.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We also like SWR. The flexibility is a huge benefit to me. Once I got into a groove of using it, it became open-and-go.

:iagree: SWR users here!

 

My sister-in-law is brand new to homeschooling and she'll be using All About Spelling for 1st grade, too. She is really excited about it. Her son is also coming from a school that used an O/G program. So many choices!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Paying attention to this one. I used SWO this year and HATED it! I've gone to making up my own spelling for the end of the year, and finally the boys (ds7 twins) are getting into this spelling thing. So I'm in the hunt for a new spelling program for next year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...